As of tomorrow it will have been one month since we welcomed our little bundle of joy. I’ve always heard parents complain about how time flies in a blink of an eye, but never fully grasped what they were talking about until now. It feels like just yesterday when I found out that I was pregnant and now my little one is a whole month older! * holding back tears *

My third trimester kind of crept up on me and before I knew it, we were in the hospital to be induced (birth story coming soon). However, I am glad that I have taken the time to enjoy this past month and not worry about other obligations outside of being a new parent. And believe me, that is a full time role in itself & then some!!

I’ve always been told that the third trimester is the hardest and with how my pregnancy was going, I was preparing myself for the worst. However to my surprise, my third trimester was somewhat of a breeze compared to the previous trimesters. I still had a decent amount of energy & had the same ole symptoms as I had in the first and second trimesters. It was getting a little tougher to move around but wasn’t unbearable.

My son was born at 39 weeks, which could have been a valid reason why the third trimester was a little easier on me. Apparently it gets tougher the longer your carry them. Luckily I was induced, so I did not have to carry him for an additional week to 3 weeks. I personally was 2 weeks late and I cannot even begin to imagine the discomfort my mother was in – Mom, you’re Superwoman.

In my first and second trimester, I was very cognizant of my weight gain. I did allow myself to give in to the cravings, but not very often. Up until the point of my third trimester, I had only gained 15 pounds which is exactly how much I had lost in the first trimester – thanks to dreaded morning sickness and nausea. I was walking daily as well and trying to remain active. However, this quickly changed once I was well into the third trimester. Because of my sciatica, hip and lower back pain, it became increasingly difficult to get outside a walk for longer than 15 minutes. Even doing a 30 minute yoga session was a challenge. As well, my third trimester fell right around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. So in combination of the lack of walking, the holidays, and the baby growing weekly, my weight had increased by almost 15 pounds in a matter of a few weeks. In total I had gained 33 pounds from the beginning of my pregnancy to the very end. Which is apparently normal or average for first time moms.

Toward 37 to 39 weeks, I started experiencing braxton hicks contractions. They were uncomfortable but nothing compared to the real contractions. Majority of the time the contractions were completely random and would never last longer than 30 seconds, with the exception of one night in particular. Before being told that I was going to be induced, I had downloaded a contaction app, called Contraction Timer & Counter 9m by Neiman, to record my contractions. I only used it that one night, but was glad that I had it ready to go just in case. After logging my contractions I was able to see that they were random and never became consistant.

One symptom that devestated me was my stretch marks. In hindsight, I love them because it reminds me of what my body is capable of and the blessing that God has given me, especially when so many women are not able to share that same experience. However, while pregnant my goal was to not have stretch marks. In fact, I began applying Palmer’s Skin Therapy Oil & Gold Bond’s Healing Lotion in my first trimester! Unfortunately though, if you are meant to have stretch marks, you will have them… regardless of how much oil and lotion you apply.

Even though I nested pretty much throughout my entire pregnancy, I had an even more urge to nest in the third trimester. I started having so much anxiety about clearing off my to-do list that it began to consume me. My number one worry was that I wouldn’t be prepared enough. I was tiring myself out making freezer meals, deep cleaning the house, organizing the nursery, etc. And while some of it was very helpful after we brought our son home, majority of it was unnecessary and not worth me pushing myself the way I did. Especially because as of the week of and the week after our son was born, family and friends dropped off ready-made meals for us, as well as, purchased items that were still on our registry. Sometimes we have to just let go & trust that everything will be okay – especially when you have support surrounding you – A montra I desperately need to remember.

Our son was born on Saturday, February 6th, 2021 at 4:51 pm. He weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces and was 20 inches long. Hopefully I will be able to get around to writing his birth story soon but I’m on newborn time now, so you never know! I’m also thinking about writing a “Hospital Bag Checklist” and “Pregnancy Essentials” posts? So stay tuned!

Sincere,

Lee.